The circumstances of their escape were not immediately clear but Sobejana, a military commander in the province, said just before their recovery, troops clashed with 20 Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Talipao, another town of Sulu, leaving 5 militants dead and five soldiers wounded.

The Abu Sayyaf is considered a terrorist organization that has carried out ransom kidnappings, beheadings, bombings and other violence.

The Washington Times Comment Policy

The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link "Have a Disqus Account?". Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.